Food & Fitness Favorites

Welcome back! I’m busy preparing for a few weeks of traveling starting tomorrow, so Food & Fitness Friday is coming a little early to you this week.

I’ve decided to commit myself fully to enjoying my trips over the next few weeks, so this will be the last post for a bit until I return to life as usual. If you have one final end-of-summer trip planned, I’d encourage you to disconnect from the online world as much as possible, too. It’s liberating!

This week’s post is all about some of my favorite things when it comes to food and fitness. Let’s jump right in!

Tessemae’s

When you’re eating lots of vegetables and clean proteins, life in the kitchen can get a little ho-hum after a while, no matter how creative you are. Tessemae’s to the rescue.

Tessemae’s recently sent me a box of delicious goodies to try, including some of their salad dressings and condiments. It has been ages—literally, I can’t remember the last time—since I bought a condiment at the store other than Dijon mustard, olive oil, or apple cider vinegar. Most condiments are laden with low quality oils, sugar, and caramel coloring. I’ll pass.

But Tessemae’s is different. Their products are 100% refined sugar-free, made without canola oil, and they actually taste like REAL ingredients! Finding mayonnaise made without canola, soy, or safflower oil is next to impossible, but Tessemae’s mayo is made with olive oil only.

I’ve already fallen in love with their Zesty Ranch Dressing drizzled over grilled chicken and cucumber salads. And their ketchup? Start singing the hallelujahs, people, because this date-sweetened ketchup is one you can feel A-okay about serving to your ketchup-loving kids.

If you’re looking to jazz up your eats in a healthful way that’s still packed with flavor, give Tessemae’s a try!

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Natural Deodorant

I have tried so many brands of natural deodorant over the years in my search for “the one.” I refuse to put toxic chemicals under my arms…but finding a natural alternative that actually works was beginning to feel nearly impossible. That is, until I made a greatdiscovery.

For the past few months, I’ve been using a variety of deodorant pastes instead of traditional stick deodorants. Below are my three favorites right now.

1. Primal Pit Paste
I seriously love this stuff. Their website proudly claims that Primal Pit Paste is a “a truly organic, all-natural deodorant that ACTUALLY WORKS!” And they’re right! It does. I’ve used the the paste for weeks now and have yet to have a bad day with it. It absorbs effectively, neutralizes odors, and has not stained any of my clothes. The ingredients are pure and simple: organic coconut oil, organic shea butter, non-aluminum baking soda, organic arrowroot powder, and essential oils. (It’s also available in stick form for those that would prefer that option, but I love the paste!)

2. Soapwalla Deodorant Cream
Coming in at a close second is Soapwalla’s natural deodorant cream, which is more moist and almost lotion-like. It absorbs easily, though, and a little goes a long way. The ingredients are: organic jojoba oil, organic sunflower oil, rosehip seed oil, shea butter, organic corn starch, sodium bicarbonate, kaolin clay, organic (vegan, kosher) glycerin, a custom blend of essential oils (including organic lavender, organic tea tree, sweet orange, organic peppermint, and organic bergamot), organic non-GMO soy lecithin, and organic non-GMO vitamin E. The only drawback to this cream is that it comes in at a rather pricey $14.00 per jar. But like I said, a little goes a long way, so the jar will last a long time.

3. Salubritas DeodorantSalubritas deodorant paste is very similar to Primal Pit Paste, but I’m placing it in third place because for whatever reason it just doesn’t work quite as well as the pit paste does. It’s also slightly more expensive. The ingredients include organic shea butter, sodium bicarbonate, organic cocoa butter, organic arrowroot powder, organic coconut oil, and organic essential oils. It still works, I just feel like I have to reapply more frequently than the others. (But it’s still far and away more effective for me than a generic brand like Tom’s, which basically does as much good as spritzing my underarms with water.)

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Music & Podcasts

I love listening to podcasts while I’m walking or doing something else active. A few of my favorites:

The Suze Orman Show—I’ve actually learned a lot of stuff from this woman. She makes it easy for my non-numbers brain to understand financial matters that would otherwise leave my mind in a jumble.

The Lively Show—I love learning more about bloggers and internet entrepreneurs around the web.

Door of Hope—These sermons from Door of Hope Church in Portland are incredible. One of the pastors used to teach at my church here in Madison. I’ve particularly enjoyed their Spiritual Symmetry series.

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When it comes to music, I’m pretty boring. Usually I just stream some Pandora or pop in a CD. (Yes, I still have a few of those. Permission granted to call me ancient.)

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Free Online Workouts

Tara Stiles Yoga—I love her easy approach to yoga (even though some of the poses are quite challenging!). Often I’ll string together 2 or 3 videos to give myself a mini-flow session at home.

Thanks for the fitness workouts! I can’t use essential oils or heavily scented things so I’m wary of the natural deodorants. But I love, love, love that you’ve found us some high quality fitness workout routines! Have a great vacation – do remember to vacate your usual life.
Happy Thoughts!

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